Contanda moves away from crude oil and onto new project

Contanda is planning on filing for a new project at the Port of Grays Harbor, and moving away from their plans of crude-by-rail.

At the Hoquiam City Council Meeting on Monday, they city approved being the co-lead on an agreement with the Department of Ecology to work with a consulting agency and perform a new permit and State Environmental Policy Act review.

Contanda currently has permitting with the City of Hoquiam to pursue a crude-by-rail project, which has been hit with a series of setbacks including the added regulations contained under the Ocean Resources Management Act.

When asked by a resident on Monday if the new permitting would mean a complete stoppage of crude plans, City Administrator Brian Shay alluded to that.

The new project by Contanda would include expanding their current storage to handle additional products at the site such as “Petroleum and non-petroleum bulk liquids”. The proposal specifically describes the new project as separate from the former crude project.

The proposed project would include 8 storage tanks, with a total storage of 1.1 million barrels of liquid.

In addition, the new project could include constructing a third rail on site “that would allow for the storage of an entire train”.

The project would be expected to take 12-24 months and provide 80-100 jobs during construction and 4-20 jobs for operation.